Daddy
by Az The Dragon
Summary: A request from Suraida-chan  from DeviantArt  in return for her anniversary pic for Unwilling Partners. First person from Forte's point of view as he tries to deal with his daughter, Forza.  Links to Forza's ref sheet in my bio


**A/N:** This is the request Suraida-chan (over at DeviantArt) asked me in return for her anniversary pic for Unwilling Partners. She requested me to write a one shot in first person from Forte's point of view as he tried to deal with his daughter, Forza. I don't have all the background history, so things in this short might be slightly different than what Suraida originally thought.

Also, Forza (and Dolce, Forza's mother) is(are) Suraida-chan's character(s), not mine. Forte belongs to Capcom.

Btw, this was betaed and corrected, but I still might have lost some errors along the way.

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Daddy

A Fanfic

By Az The Dragon

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"Daddy, why do you never smile?"

The innocent question caught me by surprise and I looked down at the small navi standing close to my right leg, one of her small hands grasping my cloak and lightly tugging it to gain my attention. She looked confused and somewhat lost. Her eyes, so similar to Dolce's despite having my color, expressing concern for me.

I closed my own eyes and hummed to myself, thinking. Things weren't going well with this kid and the more time I spent with her, the more I wondered what I had in mind when I completed her. Perhaps it was because she was the only thing of Dolce left and I just couldn't let go. Or I was just stupid and believed that she would be back if only I gave her enough energy.

It was only later, when it was too late, that I realized that Forza would never be Dolce. It had been something that got me furious beyond reason. I still remember charging up an Earth Breaker and only barely stopping when the tiny navi looked up at me. That was when strength left me and the dark energy I was holding in my raised hand dissipated into nothing. For just a moment… A single, short second that seemed to last for eternity, I had seen Dolce's eyes staring back at me.

With nothing else to do, nor what to do with an infant that couldn't even crawl around, I decided to rest and reorder my thoughts. Hours later, when I rose from my slumber, I was surprised to see the little thing had grown up to the size of a… five year old kid by human standards.

Always following me around and often tugging at my cloak. Annoying. Very, very annoying thing to do.

Yet, as much as she tested my patience, she never seemed to break the final straw of control I had.

"Daddy?"

Her voice woke me up from my thoughts and I looked at her again, trying to see Dolce's eyes once more like it had happened what was now days ago, perhaps even weeks. I stared for what could have been five minutes before the kid's eyes became fearful. She repeated the horrid nickname she had given me again, her voice trembling, and I gave a deep sigh to try and relax.

As I had said, regardless of my decision to let the kid trail me wherever I went, things weren't going well.

"What?" I asked, instantly noticing that my sharp and annoyed tone made her shrink away in worry. Great. I'm screwing things up even more. Not that I care, but if Dolce was here, she would be giving me an earful…

I floated closer to the kid and looked down. "What is it?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm and even. She reacted by relaxing a bit, but she was still worried. I could see it in her eyes just as she lowered her gaze to the ground, maybe ashamed of having disturbed me from my thoughts.

"Are you alright, Daddy?"

I raised an eyebrow at that question, wondering why she was so worried about someone that was not so polite with her. "I am fine," I said quickly. Perhaps too quickly as she looked up with those large eyes of hers, trying to see if she could read the lie I had said on my face. "Why do you care?"

She smiled widely, and I wondered why she would feel so… happy to have been asked that. She took a step towards me and managed to sneak her little arms past my cloak and around my left leg, hugging it. I could feel her pressing her small face against the side of my hip.

"Because you are my Daddy!"

I grumbled, but kept any nasty remark to myself as I tried to at least be polite to Dolce's daughter, even if just to honor her memory. She would never let me snap at her child, even if I had the right to do so since I'm Forza's 'biological' father.

"Why would I being your… 'Daddy'-" Ugh… That word sounds so awful in my mouth! I think that it almost made me gag and shiver. I am the Black Shadow, the God of Destruction, a bringer of doom and death to anyone that dared to cross my path. Not a… 'daddy'...

I cleared my throat, trying to not let my dark energy flare in response to my mood. "Why would I being your 'Daddy' be of any importance?"

Despite having regained some sort of control on my disgust over it, I still detested the word with all my digital being. The only positive fact is that I had gotten the whole line out smoothly and without the usual venom I reserved for those I loathed with a passion. The negative fact is that I felt drained just trying to not strangle the kid, or kick her to the next server… whichever came first.

I finally felt Forza's arms release my leg as she stepped back and looked up at me with that smile that had the awful ability to make my whole being freeze but at the same time, it irked me in annoyance. Her smile was too similar to Dolce's, and as much as I… liked that smile, it pains me to see it on her daughter. Far too many painful, yet nice memories out of that.

"Because you're my Daddy!"

I twitched. I actually felt my right eye twitch on its own for how much annoyed I was. But the moment of annoyance vanished before I could act and it left me wearier than before. If I knew what kind of trap I was walking into when I had the stupid idea of completing this child, I would have blasted the darn thing to smithereens.

"That is not an answer."

I turned around and walked down the path, partially angered at her childish stupidity and just too tired to continue this insensate conversation. No matter how many times I was going to ask and in how many ways I would ask. I knew she would just answer with "because you're my Daddy."

But as much as I was fed up with the kid, I let her tail me through the paths of the Ura Net. No one dared to approach me, especially now that I had a really bad mood lingering around me in a dangerous aura that could be felt from a good distance, and I was glad about it. As much as I wanted to destroy something, the idea of finding a quiet corner to rest was even better.

I did not find any corner, but my wanderings brought me back to the place Dolce had hidden the half complete program that had become Forza. I stared at it, a mixture of hate, anger and longing pervading my mind and throwing me into an emotional spin that further drained me of my energy. I was going to turn around and just leave, but the kid started to tug at my cloak. Again.

I gave a deep, controlled sigh and looked down at the kid with a raised eyebrow. "What is it now?" Battling Rockman had never been so tiring…

"Daddy, I'm tired…"

I stared, confused and somewhat amazed. Just a moment ago, Forza had been full of energy and skipping right behind me, never letting go of the corner of my cape, now she really looked ready to drop and rest. Still grasping the fabric of my cloak with one of her little hands, she was using the other to rub at her eyes, imitating the human behavior to the details. For a moment I got really angry, but then I… just gave up.

"Alright," I muttered. Perhaps it was a good idea if I rested too, and this place was safer than any other, anyway. This way I wouldn't have to worry about random idiots walking in and trying to delete me while I was in sleep mode. It would be useless, infuriating and a waste of energy to delete a weakling for disturbing me.

I ignored Forza as she walked around the empty space in search of a comfortable spot and slid down a cyber wall, letting my cloak hide my body. Only my feet remained out while I rested my head against the surface behind me. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the silence and peace…

… that is, until Forza decided to tug at my cloak. _Again_.

I counted to ten, something that Dolce had suggested to me some time ago to use when I felt my anger took control of me. It worked, but when I opened my eyes to look at Forza, I was just too exhausted to even ask what the kid wanted this time.

She was holding a… yellow star thing in her little arms. I think I recognized it when I came here to complete Forza, but I never paid much attention to it until now. The thing was soft and floppy, and the kid was clutching at it like it would save her from doom.

"Why are you so sad?"

I watched her shift from foot to foot for a couple of seconds before I looked away, annoyed. "I'm not sad." What was up with her and deeming me sad? I was not sad. I was tired. And angry. _And _irritated. "Weren't you tired?"

I heard her take a step towards me, and when I turned my gaze back to her, I noticed that she was holding the yellow whatever-it-was towards me in an offering gesture. "Maybe Hoshi-Chan can help you feel better!"

How a stupid toy could make me feel better was beyond my comprehension, but I was not in the mood to get into a discussion with the kid, so I parted my cloak with a hand and just took the thing. I paused and stared at what I realized was a plush, or at least a digital version of it, as I felt the characteristic energy that belonged to Dolce.

A mix of loneliness and longing ran through my frame and I felt the fingers that were holding the plush twitch involuntarily. I wanted to throw the thing away, blast it to pieces and never see it again, but I couldn't because, like Forza, that infernal toy was another thing that Dolce left me with.

I felt furious at the unfairness of my fate. Betrayed by humans and by my own creator, left alone by the only person I had found myself attracted to, even if minimal, and now this horrible slap of reality at me…

"Why is Daddy so sad? Is Hoshi-Chan not helping?"

My eyes moved from the plush to the worried face of the kid standing in front of me. "I… I'll be fine," I eventually muttered, handing the thing back to her to grab. "Your... toy... can't help me..."

I saw Forza frown as she grabbed her plush into her arms, then her face brightened at a sudden idea she probably concocted up with her young mind. "Then maybe I can!" she exclaimed with such glee that I felt a shiver run down my back, as if I had just been doomed to eternal damnation.

Before I could protest, this small bundle was suddenly crawling past my cloak and onto my lap, her Hoshi-Chan plush pressed against my stomach while her small arms moved around it and my waist, effectively hugging me.

"Is Daddy feeling better now?"

Her voice was muffled by my cloak, but I could easily pick up the tired tone, and her movements to get into a more comfortable position were sluggish. Before I could reply, however, I also felt her fall asleep, leaving me finally alone with my thoughts.

I let my arms rest on the ground at my sides and leaned my head onto the wall behind me once again, closing my eyes. "What am I supposed to do with her, Dolce?" I asked to the emptiness of the room, hoping against logic for an answer that I knew would never come.

But there was a feeling in me that knew how she would reply to my question…

She would tell me to give Forza a chance to be loved.


End file.
